Marukame Udon – Hawaii 2013

Marukame Udon is a popular noodle shop in Waikiki located on Kuhio Avenue (a block over from Kalakaua Ave) and it’s not unusual to see patrons lining up late at night to try out their freshly made Sanuki-style udon.

Since it’s a cafeteria-style restaurant, you order your freshly made udon first, add your choice of tempura and musubi, pay at the cashier, find an available table, and return your tray afterwards.

Fortunately, we arrived for a late lunch after our trip up Diamond Head and there wasn’t a wait to get in.

After you get your freshly made udon, they have a counter where you can add various tempura and musubi items.

I picked the large Ontama Udon ($5.25) which comes with a soft boiled egg and both tenkasu (crunchy bits of deep fried batter) and Welsh onions. Since it’s Hawaii, I had to try out the Spam musubi in addition to the asparagus tempura and croquette.

The noodles themself were divine. Sanuki-style udon tends to be firmer and chewier than other types of udon and these did not disappoint. I’ve never had Spam musubi ($1.75) before (although I’m not unfamiliar with luncheon meat) but I wish there was less rice since the noodles were already very carb intensive.

The Curry Udon ($6.25) has a rich and savory broth with the same winning noodles. Some of the other tempura that you can get includes ebi (shrimp) for $1.75, ika (squid), asparagus, and croquette for $1.50 each, kabocha (squash) for $1.25, and fried chicken for $1.50 per piece. The fried chicken seemed to have a lot of batter to it but it was very crispy.

They open between 7-9am for breakfast and then from 11am to 10pm for lunch and dinner so you can grab some toothsome noodles for every meal.